Returning Guest Jim Forest is a noted author, biographer, photographer, peacemaker, and friend.

He is the author of numerous books, including most recently Writing Straight with Crooked Lines: A Memoir. Some of his previous titles include The Ladder of the Beatitudes, Loving Our Enemies: Reflections on the Hardest Commandment, and Praying with Icons. He has written several biographies, including All Is Grace: A Biography of Dorothy Day, Living with Wisdom: A Life of Thomas Merton and At Play in the Lions' Den: A Biography and Memoir of Daniel Berrigan.

This is part two of a two part episode. To listen to part one, click here.

Musician Joan Baez writes of Jim’s latest book, “Jim, my brother in nonviolent arms, writes beautifully about his dedication to truth, love, and activism.”

Jim Forest serves as the International Secretary of the Orthodox Peace Fellowship.
And he lives in Alkmaar, the Netherlands with his wife Nancy.
We tend to turn things into ideologies, and I find in general I'm an ideology-avoider. — Jim Forest
Cassidy Hall says this of her friendship with Jim and Nancy, "I got to meet Jim a few years ago when we crossed paths at Voices for Peace in Toronto and then we reconnected in The Netherlands. He and Nancy graciously hosted me — they housed me, fed me, and most importantly nurtured me spiritually. His humble, gentle, and kind presence makes any guest in his company feel like one of his dear friends."

By "his dear friends," Cassidy is alluding to the remarkable relationships that Jim has nurtured over the years, with some of the most significant spiritual leaders and activists of our time — people such as Dorothy Day, Thomas Merton, Daniel Berrigan, Henri Nouwen, and Thich Nhat Hanh. In his words and the witness of his life, Jim Forest reveals the power of relationship in all activist-oriented work.

This is part one of a two-part episode. Our next episode will feature the conclusion of this interview.

Some of the resources and authors mentioned in this episode:

Jim Forest, Writing Straight with Crooked Lines: A Memoir
Jim Forest, The Ladder of the Beatitudes
Jim Forest, Praying with Icons
Jim Forest, Road to Emmaus
Jim Forest, Living with Wisdom: A Life of Thomas Merton
Jim Forest, All is Grace:  A Biography of Dorothy Day
Jim Forest, At Play in the Lion’s Den: A Biography and Memoir of Daniel Berrigan
Jim Forest, The Root of War is Fear: Thomas Merton’s Advice to Peacemakers
Jim Forest, Saint George and the Dragon
Jim Forest, Saint Nicholas and the Nine Gold Coins
Jim Forest, Silent as a Stone: Mother Maria of Paris and the Trash Can Rescue
Joan Baez, And A Voice to Sing With: A Memoir
Daniel Berrigan, Essential Writings
Dorothy Day, Loaves and Fishes
Dorothy Day, The Long Loneliness
Jane Brox, Silence: A Social History of One of the Least Understood Elements in Our Lives
Henri Nouwen, Reaching Out
Hillary Rodham Clinton, It Takes a Village
Vincent Van Gogh, Dear Theo
Fyodor Dostoevsky, Notes from Underground
Robert Ellsberg, ed., Dorothy Day: Selected Writings
Vladimir Menshov (dir.), Moscow Does Not Believe in Tears
Mikhail Gorbachev, What is at Stake
Thomas Merton, Essential Writings
Thomas Merton, Thoughts in Solitude

Visit Jim and Nancy Forest’s website www.jimandnancyforest.com.

Episode 113 : Silence, Protest, and Radical Love: A Conversation with Jim Forest (Part Two)
Hosted by: Cassidy Hall
With: Carl McColman and Kevin Johnson
Guest: Jim Forest
Date Recorded: September 10, 2020

Featured photo: Jim Forest with Thich Nhat Hanh,